


The Fool

by Nyame



Category: Professional Wrestling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Love at First Sight, Love/Hate, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 10:09:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5286689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyame/pseuds/Nyame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(<em>all those years he tried to push him away. now he's the one that refuses to let go</em>)</p>
<p>Dean and Seth throughout the years, from humble beginnings, to bitter betrayal, and finally, reconciliation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fool

It starts in FCW.  
  
The former Jon Moxley strides into the locker room; the general manager, some chick whose name he can barely remember, is talking his ear off. He sees the former Tyler Black in person for the first time, and catches his eye. For a few seconds, they stare at each other, sizing one another up.  
  
Black frowns. Moxley smirks.  
  
It's love at first sight.  
  
( _but the magic will ruin them both_ )  
  
-  
  
"And here will be your third partner for tonight, Roman Reigns."  
  
Roman sticks out his hand, which Seth takes gladly. Dean glares.  
  
( _he hates having those eyes on anyone but him_ )  
  
-  
  
"You know, I think I'm ready." Seth stated out of the blue one morning. They're in a Waffle House, and Dean has just finished grossing out the waitress with his order.  
  
Dean idly chews on a straw, turning to look at him. Roman puts down the newspaper covering his face to do the same.  
  
"Ready for what?" It's Roman who bites the bullet.  
  
"I'm gonna ask Leighla to marry me."  
  
Instead of jubilant faces, he gets strained smiles. And every so often, Roman's eyes flicker towards Dean.  
  
The middle brother gives an insincere congratulations.  
  
Seth's lips thin into a line.  
  
( _he doesn't get it_ )  
  
-  
  
The chair shot heard around the world, they call it.  
  
It's the one that shatters his heart. When they return to the hotel room, Dean falls to pieces, into Roman's comforting embrace.  
  
( _where did he go wrong?_ )  
  
-  
  
And Seth rips him apart with words alone, until he tries to smash his head through concrete.  
  
Dean forgives him near instantly, even if he isn't there to hear it.  
  
( _because isn't that what love is?_ )  
  
-  
  
He's a laughingstock.  
  
An empty home, a woman on the side who only digs him for the power he holds. Well, no matter.  
  
Seth looks at the WrestleMania poster and smirks, tracing circles on the briefcase in his hands. He ignores the flash of blond locks, of familiar blue eyes.  
  
( _professional career on the rise, personal life in shambles, and all he sees is him_ )  
  
-  
  
As he stares at Seth, celebrating in the ramp way with title in hand, as he clutches his aching knee, Dean finally gives up.  
  
Seth is farther away than ever before.  
  
( _and he's tired of trying to reach him_ )  
  
-  
  
The game changes. John Cena snaps, CM Punk returns.  
  
Vince is gone. Seth is on his own.  
  
And Dean is finally ready to move on.  
  
Punk looks at him straight in the eye. Dean is unnerved.  
  
"You can't let your life revolve him. Do that and you neglect all the people still there."  
  
Dean nods, listens, resolves.  
  
( _so why was it so hard to let go?_ )  
  
-  
  
He wins the Royal Rumble. The match is set.  
  
Seth tries everything to get out of it. At least until Punk tells him that he either wins on his own or he loses the title for sure.  
  
The day comes. Dean wins.  
  
As he and the world celebrate his triumph, Seth sulks in defeat.  
  
( _karma at last_ )  
  
-  
  
Seth steels himself.  
  
And as he stares at Hunter's broken body, Stephanie shaking and screaming, at Daniel Bryan's disbelieving eyes and Punk's all-knowing gaze, the hint of recognition on his face, he smirks, darkly.  
  
I have surpassed you, he mouths at his mentor, and laughs.  
  
The title was all he had left. He'll become the monster to get it back.  
  
( _and as the evil consumes him, he still doesn't see the hand reached outwards for him_ )  
  
-  
  
Dean reflects on the irony, the day before his Hell in a Cell rematch with Seth. The title is gone now, in the hands of Roman, but he can't find it in himself to care. He is proud of his older brother.  
  
His younger brother continues to disappoint him.  
  
All those years, he was the villain, the devil. Seth was the hero, the champion.  
  
Now the roles are reversed.  
  
( _when did the light become the darkness, and the darkness, the light?_ )  
  
-  
  
Seth loses.  
  
He rages, and rages, until Dean has enough, and stops him cold with words.  
  
"News flash: not everything is about you. You lost. I've lost too, but I don't whine about it like you do. So, for once in your life, stop being such a disappointment and get over yourself. Either way, I'm done with you. As far as I'm concerned, you're dead to me."  
  
He walks away. He's through.  
  
Seth stares at his back, and screams to the cheers of the crowd.  
  
( _he's lost everything now_ )  
  
-  
  
Even with the brand split, they are still together. With Roman and Bray on SmackDown, someone needs to hold the fort on RAW.  
  
They don't fight anymore - not really. As far as Dean is concerned, he's done with Seth.  
  
Instead, there's some sort of enforced Cold War between them. Rather than fight him directly, Seth seems content to manipulate others to take care of Dean for him. Dean defuses those easily, most of the time, with either the right words so it can backfire on Seth, or by beating the shit out of the guy until he stops coming after him.  
  
There are still subtle threats, intense confrontations, a burning desire to rip each other apart - but now there is this fragile truce between them, to keep somewhat of a balance on their show. The title is mostly traded between them and Roman and Bray and Cesaro and whoever else that manages to get into title contention. It's almost like a game.  
  
But it isn't. It's the only peace between them.  
  
( _because, after everything, it's the only way they can be a part of each other's lives_ )  
  
-  
  
This is how things are for two years.  
  
Then Kevin dies.  
  
The little Yorkie had been his constant companion for years - his only companion, ever since he pushed everyone else away. Seth was told the news during a live RAW, and lost it.  
  
He roared, he screamed, he collapsed, consumed in his grief. Various members of the locker room tried to reach out to him, to calm him down, only to step away as he destroys almost all of catering, as he lashes out on all of them.  
  
He's huddled on the floor, in a fetal position, a spectacle for everyone to see when the room grows silent, only a sole pair of footsteps to be heard. A familiar hand trails up his arm, and Seth looks up to see blue eyes, concern clearly written on Dean's face.  
  
His walls crumble down, and he collapses into Dean's chest, clutching his shirt as he cries. Dean doesn't say anything, just wraps his arms around Seth, resting his chin on two-toned hair.  
  
( _he can't keep pretending. not anymore_ )  
  
-  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Seth is one foot out the door, one arm around Dean. They look at each other, faces inches apart. They don't kiss.  
  
It's the only regret.  
  
( _it's all changed, yet nothing's changed at all_ )  
  
-  
  
Things are different now.  
  
The animosity is gone. But the tension is still there.  
  
It was always there. Without the haze of delusion, without the bad blood that has encompassed their relationship for years now, the elephant in the room is larger than ever.  
  
There are no insults, no arguments, no threats. What there is, is staring. Tentative smiles, little chuckles, abysmal attempts at small talk.  
  
There is hope.  
  
( _that's what scares them most of all_ )  
  
-  
  
Brock Lesnar comes back, destruction of the entire company on his mind. He takes out nearly every retired wrestler still associated with the company before he sets his eyes on the active roster.  
  
The locker room, once divided, unite against a common threat.  
  
And as he picks them off, one by one, the Shield are reunited - ever so briefly.  
  
They all take their shots at him, separate and together. But it is still not enough.  
  
Roman is driven through the barricade, leaving Dean and Seth on their own.  
  
They cause him to stumble, they cause him to crash - but it is still not enough. And as Seth falls, Dean sees red.  
  
( _he was the only one that mattered in the end_ )  
  
-  
  
They are healing. Or so Seth would like to believe.  
  
They can talk now. Talk and smile and laugh together, like they could all those years ago. But the barrier is still there, a wall so strong that it chokes them from the lack of air.  
  
They wear away at it, chip by chip until Seth hears the news: offers are coming in. Dean is going to be a movie star.  
  
Dean is leaving.  
  
Seth won't let that happen. He can't let that happen.  
  
( _all those years he tried to push him away. now he's the one that refuses to let go_ )  
  
-  
  
He tries everything.  
  
He attacks Dean. He fights Dean. He tries to get Dean to stay the only way he knows how, because there is no way that Dean cares about what he thinks, not after everything Seth's done.  
  
Punk puts a stop to it before it can escalate, and the look in his eyes show that he knows what exactly Seth is trying to do.  
  
"'I Quit' match. After that, the two of you are done for good."  
  
Seth remains stoic on the outside, but his inner thoughts are a jumbled mess, ice in his veins.  
  
( _there's nothing he can do_ )  
  
-  
  
It's one of the bloodiest, most brutal matches in history.  
  
Dean fights with everything he has, because Seth has destroyed what little hope he had left. His soul is in tatters, and all he can do is make sure that Seth feels all his pain.  
  
The arena is destroyed, they are bloodied, bruised, and battered, lying in the middle of the ring. They stare at each other.  
  
And Seth breaks.  
  
He shouts "I quit!" as loud as he can, he begins to cry, crawling to Dean, pleading with him not to leave him behind, to stay - and Dean has no idea what to do. He stares, because he can't believe this is happening, and Punk is there, gently coaxing Seth away. Seth fights him, but Punk tightens his grip, and Dean is completely out of his depth. He can't believe this is happening.  
  
( _after all these years, he's finally in reach_ )  
  
-  
  
They confront each other on RAW the next night, and Seth keeps avoiding an answer, until Dean gives him his. He pulls Seth in, and presses their lips together.  
  
And as he becomes wrapped up in Dean's arms, Seth is left wondering why he ever tried to leave home.  
  
( _because he was The Fool. the biggest fool of them all_ )


End file.
